She said: “During my pregnancy the four chambers of Jennifer’s heart were’t detected so we knew it wash’t good.

“When she was born it was surreal because we had to care for one baby who was healthy and for one baby who was sick.

“The past four years have been a rollercoaster. But she has had the operations and doctors say she is an amazing and brave little fighter.”

Jennifer, a Saint Oswald’s RC Primary School pupil, has a number of problems that contribute to her heart defect and regularly travels to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for appointments.

When she was born her heart walls had not formed properly and the arteries which carry blood away were positioned back to front.

She suffered a stroke when she was just six-weeks-old and has had to undergo open heart surgery to help prolong her life.

Because of the stroke, Jennifer has a weak arm and leg, cannot walk very far and uses an ankle splint.

Jennifer’s healthy twin, Trinity, now helps care for her sister who wears ‘a plaster on her heart’ and has just one ventricle.

Vicky, along with her partner Leroy, aim to raise money for Lagan’s Foundation and Patches charity that will help prolong her daughter’s quality of life and offer respite to other parents who are raising children with similar conditions.

The mum-of-four, of Broadfield Road, Accrington, has dyed her hair red to raise money for the charities and awareness of how heart defects can affect families.

Vicky said: “Leroy and I talk to other parents who are going through the same and it’s hard.

“Now that she has had her third operation, her friends now think she is ‘fixed’, but she isn’t really and other parents need to be aware of the condition.”

Currently one in 100 babies born will have a heart defect, and there are more than 35 recognised heart defects worldwide.

Only 35 per cent of defects are picked up in the womb.

Vicky said: “If all babies were offered a non invasive pulse - ox test, 24 hours after birth, detection rates would rise to 85 per cent and it could save lives.”

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here